Container for milk bottles



A g 1960 v. P. FINEO 2,948,433

CONTAINER FOR MILK BOTTLES Filed Oct. 7, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 I/WzNmP VINCENT F! FINEO ATTOMY 9, 1960 v. P. FINEO CONTAINER FOR MILK BOTTLES Filed Oct. 7, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

VINCENT F? FINEO Ay'Tom z'y Aug. 9, 1960 v. P. FINEO 2,943,433

CONTAINER FOR MILK BOTTLES 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed 001;. '7, 1957 INVENTOR. V\NCENT P. FlNEO ATTCZQ/VEY United States Patent O CONTAINER FOR MILK BOTTLES Vincent P. Fineo, South Hempstead, N. (494 Willow St., South Hempstead, N.Y.)

Filed Oct. 7, 1957, Ser. No. 688,689

1 Claim. (Cl. 220-102) This invention relates to a container or carrier, adapted to hold a number of milk bottles, that may be carried into the home without danger of dropping of the bottles.

Ordinarily, bottles are delivered to ones home in a manner such that when the householder carries the bottle into the home to be placed in the refrigerator, it is common practice to carry the bottles without the use of any holder, since none is ordinarily provided. The bottles,

of course, tend to be slippery by reason of the fact that condensation forms on the outer surfaces thereof. Therefore, in juggling the bottles while carrying the same inside, one often drops a bottle, so that there is considerable broken glass, and liquid which must be cleaned up, as well as possible damage to the interior furnishings of the home. 'In view of the difiiculties noted above, it is proposed to provide a carton or container by means of which one may carry the milk bottles from the outside of the home into the home for deposit in the refrigerator. It is proposed, in this connection, to so form the carton or container that all the bottles delivered can be carried at one time, without danger of their being individually dropped. Another object is to provide a carrier as stated which will be of a very low cost, and can even be a disposable carrier, so that it can be used for advertising purposes by the dairy, that is, the dairy may deliver the bottles in a carrier that carries advertising and can be disposed of after a single use if desired.

7 Another object is to provide a carrier as described which will be helpful not only to the householder, but also, to the delivery man and the diary. By reason of the invention, a delivery man will be enabled to load his truck 7 with the correct amount of milk in containers for each delivery, before starting on his route, so that there is no necessity of making up individual orders at each stop. This will thus permit deliveries to be speeded up, so that a smaller number of deliverymen can be used for making a maximum number of deliveries. Still further, the arrangement tends to separate each bottle from the bottles adjacent the same, thereby tending to reduce or eliminate the rattling of bottles, which create annoyance in the early morning while most persons are still sleeping.

2 kept upon ones porch or stoop, said box being adapted for holding a carrier according to the invention and being in closed position.

Fig. 2 is a view of the box opened, showing the carriers therein, a portion of the lid of the box being broken away.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of a pair of the carriers, the bottles being shown in dotted lines.

Fig. 4 is a front elevational view of the carriers, the bottles being shown in dotted lines.

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view, on an enlarged scale, substantially on line 55 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a view on the same scale as Fig. 5, taken on line 66 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a modified form of carner.

Fig. 8 is a tragmentary perspective modification.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of another modification.

Fig. 10 is a reduced transverse sectional view on line 10--10 of Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of another modification, the dotted lines showing a hand as it is being moved into position to grip the carriers.

Fig. 12 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view on line 12-12. of Fig. 11 in which the hand is in inserted position, a means for interengaging the carriers being shown in its normal and'operative positions in full and dotted lines respectively.

Fig. 13 is a transverse sectional view on the same scale as Fig. 12, substantially on line 13-13 of Fig. 12. Fig. 14 is a view like Fig. 13, showing another modified construction.

Fig. 15 is a fragmentary elevational view of the form shown in Fig. 14, as seen from the line 15- 15 of Fig. 14.

Referring to the drawings in detail, in Figs. 1-6 the carriers constituting the present invention are engageable in a conventional milk box generally designated 10 having at the upper ends of its side walls horizontally elongated recesses 12 forming venting openings. The milk box has a hinged lid 14, swinging on hinges 16, and has a forwardly projecting lid 18 that constitutes the means for grasping the lid to raise the same.

This is conventional in and of itself, but has been illustrated to show the adaptability of the carriers constituting the invention for association with conventional milk boxes;

The carriers have been generally designated at 20, and two identical carriers are adapted to fit snugly in a conventional milk box, in back-to-back relation as clearly shown in Figs. Zand 5. The carriers 20 are capable of view of another being formed from any suitable material, such as heavy cardboard, wood, metal, or plastic as shown. Regardless of the material used, advertising information can be placed upon the carriers if desired and they'could be issued complementarily by the dairy, in many instances.

Another object is to provide a carton as described which 1 will be particularly designed to permit two identical but opposite cartons to be carried-in one hand, with each carton being itself adapted to serve as a holder for a number of milk bottles. In thisway, only one form of carton need be manufactured, and said carton can be'used either singly or' as one of 'a pair of like cartons, for carrying different amounts of milk.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to the following description and accompanying drawings,

and to the appended claims in which the various novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of; this disclosure:

- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a box as is If made of a sufficiently cheap material, the carriers can be disposed of after a single use in the same manner as the carriers used for carrying a predetermined number of bottles of soft drinks. In any event, each carrier includes a high, wholly flat, vertical back wall 22 which is provided with a reduced or upwardly tapering top portion 24 formed with a horizontally elongated opening 26 through which one may extend his hand for lifting the carrier.

The bottom wall 28 of the carrier projects laterally in i one direction from the plane of the'back wall, and along theedge thereof remote from the back wall has an upwardly directed front wall 30 joined to the back wall by longitudinally spaced, transversely extending partitions 32, andby endwalls 34. V. -1

Thus, the carrier has a plurality of upwardly openin g,

identical compartments each of which is adapted to receive a milk bottle B.

Two of the carriers are adapted to be disposed in backto-back relation and may seat in the box in the manner shown in Fig. 2, with the top edges of the carrier bearing against the underside of the lid 14 or being, at least, closely spaced from said lid. One thus locates openings 26 in registration with each other and can extend his or her hand therethrough for elevating the carriers. Both carriers can be carried with one hand in this way and at the same time, each carrier is usable independently if, for example, one is receiving a delivery of only three bottles or perhaps a smaller number.

In Fig. 7 there is shown a modified construction adapted for holding three bottles. In this form, an upwardly opening, rectangular container 36 has transverse partitions 38 forming three compartments 39 for the milk bottles B. Secured to the opposite longitudinal walls of the container are handles 40 of inverted U-shape, formed of a fiexible material and secured by rivets 42 or equivalent means to the associated side walls. The handles 40 can be flexed transversely of the container toward each other so as to permit both of them to be grasped.

In Fig. 8, the construction is like that of Fig. 7, except for the fact that the container is of the double type. Container 44 thus has a longitudinally and centrally extending partition 46, intersected by and rigid with a plurality of transverse partitions 48. Side handles 50 of flexible material are secured by rivets 51 or the like to the opposite longitudinal walls of the container.

In Figs. 9 and 10 there is shown another modification used. In this form of the invention, the carrier is a plastic bag, formed of vinyl or the like. A tray 52 of cardboard or the like has an upwardly directed, low, peripheral wall 54. A number of bottles B is supported upon the tray and the tray itself is provided at the bottom of a plastic sack or bag 56. After the bottles are inserted, the mouth 58 of the sack is closed and may be stapled as at 60 providing a sealed carrier for the milk bottles that is completely sanitary and at the same time permits them to be conveniently carried. Smaller plastic bags can be used to carry a smaller number of bottles, and in this event the tray 52 might possibly be omitted.

In Figs. 11-13 there is shown another modification. In this form side-by-side containers 62 have the same general form as in the first form, being provided with upwardly projecting, high back walls 64, end walls 66, and partition walls 68, the end and partition walls being secured to front walls '70.

In this form of the invention, there are two thin, highly resilient spring leaves 72 having outer ends anchored at 74 by means of rivets or the like to one of the walls 64. The other ends of the leaves are in abutting relation, with the leaves extending over the opening 76 of said one back wall.

The leaves are so proportioned (see Fig. 13) that each leaf can be flexed transversely from the full to the dotted line position of Figs. 12 and 13, entering the registered openings 76 and projecting from the wall to which they are secured fully through the opening of the other wall.

The leaves are resiliently flexed responsive to insertion of a hand H. One merely moves the hand from the Fig. 11 to the Fig. 12 position. The hand strikes the leaves 72 and biases them to the dotted line position. When they extend through both of the registered open ings 76, they interconnect the two carriers, so that one now lifts the carriers by grasping the top portions thereof. In the event ones hand should slip, the leaves 72 will hold the carriers against relative separation, that is, one carrier will not drop as long as there is at least a slight grip upon the other carrier.

In Figs. 14 and 15, there is shown another modification. This is like the form of Fig. 11, except that the back walls 78 have registering openings 80 which are identical to the openings 76 in shape and form (see Fig. 15).

In this form, instead of two spring leaves flexing along vertical lines, there is one connecting leaf 82, which is connected to one of the walls 78 by means of a hinge 84, with leaf 82 swinging about a horizontal axis extending longitudinally of the associated opening 80. Leaf 82 normally gravitates to its full line position of Fig. 14. However, leaf 82 will move to the dotted line position, responsive to insertion of ones hands through the registering openings. Therefore, the leaf will underlie the top walls of openings 84 A lip 86 formed on the longitudinal edge of the leaf remote from the hinge, Will extend upwardly alongside the other wall '78. The two walls are thus connected together and the pivoted leaf receives the weight of the carriers, when the device is being transported in a normal manner.

Thus, the form of the invention shown in Figs. 14 and 15 has a connection with the form of Figs. 11-13, in that in both instances, at least one leaf is provided, carried by one carrier and movable through registering openings of the carriers to interconnect the same against relative downwardmovement.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise constructions herein disclosed and that various changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by United States Letters Patcut is:

A carrier for milk bottles comprising a container adapted for engaging in a milk box and for holding a plurality of milk bottles, thus to permit said bottles to be carried conjointly from the box, said carrier including handle means disposed to extend clear of the bottles in position to facilitate the transportation of the carrier, said carrier having a flat bottom and including a back wall atone side of the bottom, a front Wall at the other side of the bottom, and a plurality of partitions extending between the walls, the back wall being projected upwardly a distance higher than the front wall and having an opening constituting the handle means, said back wall lying wholly in a vertical plane, for disposition of two of the carriers in back-to-back relation to permit their being conjointly carried, said carrier further including interlocking means to interengage an adjacent carrier with which the carrier is disposed in back-to-back relation, comprising a pair of spring leaves disposed end-to-end and anchored at one end to the carrier and normally closing the opening in said carrier, said spring leaves being flexible transversely through the opening of said carrier and through the registering opening of the adjacent carrier on insertion of a hand through the firstnamed opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,629,661 Gerhard May 24, 1927 2,101,492 Cogswell Dec. 7, 1937 2,179,109 Wheeler Nov. 7, 1939 2,294,874 Gordon Sept. 1, 1942 2,460,108 Smith et al. Jan. 25, 1949 2,595,043 Zimmerman Apr. 29, 1952 2,613,847 Lacher Oct. 14, 1952 2,728,484 Farrington Dec. 27,1955 2,743,836 Roberts May 1, 1956 2,747,766 Bergstein May 29, 1956 2,747,767 Bergstein May 29, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 732,309 France June 14, 1932 757,108 Great Britain Sept. 12, 1956 

